Sarah Palin calls local media “biased and unfair” in one of thousands of e-mails sent during her first two years as governor of Alaska that were released by the state.
More than 24,000 e-mails from Palin’s term were made public today, offering a glimpse into her administration up to September 2008, shortly after Republican Senator John McCain picked her as his running mate in his unsuccessful presidential campaign.
“Can you flippinbelieveit?!” she wrote to her state Department of Revenue commissioner on Aug. 30, 2008, the day after McCain of Arizona named her as his running mate.
The six boxes of documents, weighing about 300 pounds, include e-mails about bears, the budget, oil and gas issues, as well as the firing of her public safety commissioner, which led to a scandal called “Troopergate.” On Aug. 15, 2008, she wrote that the media were reporting the issue “incorrectly.”
In one e-mail, she called reports on her budget and potential trooper layoffs “biased and unfair.”
“It is appalling to see and hear the untruths being spewed about the DPS budget and contract results,” she wrote to members of her staff on Aug. 19, 2008, referring to the state Department of Public Safety.
Palin, 47, who was elected in 2006 and resigned the governorship in July 2009, has been coy about whether she will seek the Republican presidential nomination for 2012. She made a multiday East Coast tour in a red, white and blue bus this month that ended in the early primary state of New Hampshire, diverting attention from Republicans already in the race.
Private E-Mail
Palin used private e-mail accounts to conduct state business, and messages sent to state employees at their state e- mail addresses were also included in the correspondence that was made public.
The release of the records follows more than two years of pursuit and legal challenges by media outlets and members of the public under a state freedom-of-information law that began when Palin became the vice presidential nominee.
The state also provided a list of thousands of e-mails that were withheld for privacy reasons. Many dealt with potential appointments and personnel issues, while some related to “children, dinner and prayer” and “talking points on petroleum tax proposal,” according to the list.
During her governorship, Palin pushed an ethics overhaul and a tax increase on oil companies. She also supported up to $500 million in state subsidies for Calgary-based TransCanada Corp. to pursue a multimillion-dollar natural gas pipeline project.
Troopergate Inquiry
Palin faced tension in her administration in mid-2008 when she became the subject of Troopergate, an abuse-of-power inquiry over firing Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan.
The police chief said he was dismissed for refusing to fire state trooper Mike Wooten, who was involved in a divorce and custody battle with Palin’s sister.
In October 2008, a state legislative investigator found Palin abused her authority and violated state ethics rules by letting her husband use her office to press for firing Monegan. A separate investigation by the state Personnel Board in November 2008 found the governor didn’t violate ethics rules.
Palin said on “Fox News Sunday” on June 5 she wasn’t worried that some of the e-mails might be damaging.
“Every rock in the Palin household that could ever be kicked over and uncovered anything, it’s already been kicked over,” she said. She also said the e-mails “weren’t meant for public consumption.”
The state of Alaska said it could fulfill the request for the e-mails only on paper because it didn’t have another way to redact private information from the documents.
No comments:
Post a Comment